This may not really mean anything other than that he decided that was a great place to spend his senior season becoming the best he could at a game he probably never really thought he could play at the highest level.

I'm surprised how many people are taking such a pessimistic view of this right away. Just like Tuley-Tillman, maybe Ward does not come from a great high school football program. Seeing that Ward is new to the game, the IMG Academy could be how he feels he can best dedicate himself to getting better at football (just like QB Michael O'Connor did).

This is uncharted territory as IMG Academy is just starting their football program and fielding their first HS team this fall. We have no evidence how this is going to go, and may be something we end up seeing more in the future. And I am guessing the NCAA is going to be paying really close attention to the school so I doubt there will be any dirty dealings there.

Ward's recruitment was going to be battle with IMG or not, but we have a head start, and he still considers us his school right now. If we can keep him in the fold, we may get a more polished player and a possible early pipeline into IMG. Our coaches are already scheduled to be there tomorrow to visit Michael O'Connor:

NCAA has a tendency to turn a blind eye to hijinks of its own members, but not high schools especially one run by a sports agency. For example, their crackdown on AAU teams and the ruling on Eastern Christian Academy this year:

The only hesitation I have is that the NCAA is a client of IMG, but this article details the lengths IMG Academy has to go to make sure it stays on the right side of the NCAA. The academy has been around a long time, and most of their athletes play non-revenue sports.

Hales Franciscan went 8-4 this past season (unlike Tuley-Tillman's Peoria Manual team, which went 0-9), but they're a tiny private school. He's likely not getting the best coaching or competition level there.

Plus the Bradenton/Sarasota area is nice. It's about a 45 minute drive south of me and I have an uncle there that we see a lot, and it's a sweet place to live, IMO. Close to Tampa, not too far from Fort Myers or Orlando, beautiful weather, Siesta Key Beach which is tip top, any restaurant/store you can think of, and not too bad of traffic by Florida's standards, ect. Probably why Maria Sharapova, Dick Vitale and numerous other people with lots of money live there.

it's probably the closest thing to being a college athlete. Entire schedule planned out with academic load just enough to get you into DI schools and emphasis on sports the rest of the day. Wake up, conditioning, classes, practice, study hall. Except the conditioning and coaches are way better than the average HS. Plus they have Manatee HS to compete with and they are always a top 50 (nationally) HS.

Until next February, but like stated above, he basically isn't committed anymore, and if he is, probably not for long. I'm not pissed, the kid should take his time and make what he renders to be the right decision for him. If he chooses Blue, that's great, if not, there will be others my brothers.

I view this as a positive. He's going to get much better coaching and play against much higher competition down there. Sky's the limit for someone with that frame. I'd rather have a 50% shot at getting a vastly improved monster than a 90% shot at a really raw 4 year project.

I was curious to see what the IMG Academy is about and this is what I got from their website:

The Academy Program is structured with an annual two-semester system that runs from September – May. IMG Academy incorporates a “collegiate-style” daily schedule for student-athletes that consists of a half-day of academics and a half-day of sports training/competition.

At IMG Academy, academic enrichment and athletic skill development represent only a portion of the training that student-athletes receive. We instill the confidence that allows our student-athletes to aspire for anything that their mind can imagine, while providing the tools to help them reach those goals.

IMG Academy has been around for a long time. In the beginning it was created so that tennis players can train year round with schooling on the side, but it has expanded since to golf than to other sports. Usually, they have no allegiance to any school. But I don't think this is a positive turn of events for Michigan.

Yes, but in my experience, dual enrollment credits are really only accepted by other schools in the same system. I tried to take my FIU dual enrollment credits out of state and could not transfer them, but they were valid in any public univeristy in Florida. Now, whether that really means anything to a student-athlete deciding where to go to college is another question.

Pretty much bullshit. Florida decided a few years back that it doesn't want to have community colleges, and had I think all the community colleges add at least one bachelors program, so they could call them just regular old colleges.

I believe they just started the high school football program a year or two ago. They haven't had much of a chance to churn out any reputable alumni yet. There is a Wikipedia list of "alumni," but these are all players that have trained at IMG for the NFL Combine.

IMG Academy has sent kids to Ivy League schools and other schools with similar standards as Michigan. The purpose of the school is to provide more intense preparation in sports and started with the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.

It is what it is. Ultimately we are talking about a student athlete who is in his junior year of high school with an opportunity to go far with his football skills. Why shouldn't he go there and why wouldn't we want him if he did? Don't let your homer glasses obscure your view.

Honestly, I think some people don't have the stomach for recruiting... It isn't about any one kid and great talent usually comes with great risk. It is what it is.

The high school football program is still relatively new at IMG, but there have been players training for the NFL Combine at IMG for over a decade now. Based on the reactions I've seen from the who's who of draft prospects this year, the facilities at IMG are better than most major D-1 programs. It's a competitive environment, and whichever school ends up landing Ward will benefit from the year he spends here.

He's a 3* raw prospect that's as likely to be a bust as he is a boom prospect. With how awesome our 2012 and 2013 OL classes are/were, losing an offensive line prospect like Ward doesn't cause me to lose sleep at night.

With that said, I'd love for him to remain committed, but losing someone like Ferns would be a MUCH BIGGER blow.

Ferns is a more polished player, but you could say the same thing about LB depth that you said about OL depth (lots of good talent in recent classes). Considering neither Ferns nor Ward should be required to step on the field immediately, both guys should have plenty of time to develop.

No problem with this boarding school. It has been a college prep boarding school for over 35 years with emphasis on Academics, Athletics, Leadership and Character. They have a full time NCAA compliance officer on site to make sure that things are done the right way. The school is experiencing tremendous growth and the team will play in 4 or 5 A and play a very good schedule. I am hearing they will be very talened since over 20 D1 coaches from all over the country have visited the football office in the last 30 days. They are now stopping there and at Manatee. There is great emphasis on honoring commitments to college as it is a big part of the leadership and character program they have in place. The L&C program is part of the John Wooden Leadership Program and is a formal curriculum. In 2012 over 150 college coaches were on campus. The only reason I know this is because my son went there and was recruited to play at many Ivey League colleges.

I might be the only one who sees this as a good thing, but if he does end up sticking with us, going to a football program like this one could be a great thing for his development as a player. He's a guy with the physical tools to be a great player, but is very raw. This could maybe smooth out a lot of the raw aspects of his game, and get him in a good shape to compete for a spot in the two deep quickly.

That story just talks about last week's in-home visits. I don't have a pay account either, but Farrell was tweeting about it earlier. AU and Tenn are closer, but we are still assumed leader. Also, the only Rivals site that will cover his announcement is the Michigan team site, so if there were a network that would predict Green to Michigan, I would think it would be Rivals based on the evidence provided above. I'm trying to figure out where NFG got his info from.

I Lived in Bradenton 3 yrs, so am familiar with IMG. IMG has been around a while. At least in the past, they were a fairly expensive school, but you did get excellent coaching. It does make sense for Ward to go there. It really is kind of like McGary going to prep school out East. McGary was still from Indiana. Ward is still from Chicago, but he gets a year to polish his game, work on his academics, strength, and be ready for college. I'm just curious how in the world this is being paid for. Going to IMG for a year isn't cheap.

I have paid private school tuition for years, for 3 kids. But it has been an entirely different league than 50k a year. Even without scholarships, my daughter's High School tuition maxed out a couple years ago at a bit over $10k. IMG, on the other hand, at $50k, would be a lot. That's serious coin for most people. Anyone who can afford $50k for a year's high school tuition has some serious resources.

IIRC, some of the East Coast basketball schools offered scholarships. IMG, on the other hand, is made up completely of students focusing on sports. So, it is less likely to be underwritten by the tuition of the rest of the student body.

Financial aid is available if you fill out the right forms and if is handled by a third pary group approved by the FHSAA. No aid can be given below the calculated aid amount which my son got last year albeit not too much but at least something.

I worked out there for 3 months one summer. It is outstanding. Ward will probably get a lot of technique coaching for his position to catch up fast for not having played a lot of football. For sure he will get top-notch conditioning both in the weight room and running/plyometric stuff. I was there in college I wish I had gone in high school.

As for what it means for Michigan I don't know. Ward will likely get to rub shoulders with some NFL guys with various ties. When I was there Drew Brees, Charlie Batch, and I heard but never saw, the Mannings were there. So who knows who might get in his ear and say what.